It's raining, it's pouring...

So. Today (at 2am to be exact) was the start of BST, or British Summer Time. It's been what, only a few hours and already I am excited about the prospect of sunglasses, flip-flops and ice cream. Ah! The great British summer.

...Except the great British summer normally consists of getting wet. And a bit damp. Then maybe a peek of sunshine...

Then Autumn.

Actually no. I feel I'm being overharsh here. It's perhaps that I haven't experienced a proper summer since 2006, when I moved to the fair city if Cardiff. 2006 was so lovely and hot. Not a raindrop in sight. I lazed around by the canal, wore only a bikini indoors, devoured ice lollies daily on the walk to work.... absolute bliss.

I'm hoping for the same this year.

But, I put this to you: why does weather affect us so? Is it just us Brits who seem so consumed by what the weather will do tomorrow, next week, next month? If you watch the news, you'll know that we aren't very good at handling any kind of weather at all. Too hot = we have a drought. Too cold - we don't have enough grit to make the roads safe. We fail at everything except the "in between" times - the mild weather. Maybe we don't deserve a blisteringly hot summer.

But I hope we get one. I can taste that Mr Whippy ice cream already... straight from the van, slathered in strawberry sauce.....

Friendship

Happy Thursday everyone!

Today my posting topic is friendship. This week J and I watched an episode of Flight of the Conchords in which one of the characters draws a "friendship chart" to determine whether he and two other men are friends yet. Extreme maybe, but is this a comedic reflection of how it happens in real life? How do you know when you and someone else have become friends? And are there different levels of friendship?

I personally would say there are - just the way there are different kinds of love. Friendship comes in all shapes and sizes and varying degrees of trust and depth. For example, I have some friends I love having fun with, but whom I wouldn't share any secrets with. At the other end of the scale, my very best friends are people I could spend hours on end with, without feeling as if I had to entertain them, as it were.

My housemate K put it perfectly last night: "you are friends with someone when you would walk through pouring rain to see them, even if it was a long way and you didn't have an umbrella."

That's the kind of friend we'd all like to have.

Aaaargh!

Late again. But late for a good reason. Yesterday, Sunday was the day I give into my crazy person urges (i.e run around the woods dressed up and hit other dressed up people with a foam-coated stick. Yup, LRP - live roleplay).

For those uninitiated, LRP is sort of like being in a play, only the other actors are your audience. It's immersive, leave-your-life-behind fun at its very best. The system my friends and I play in is well developed, has a good few members and has proper safety rules. You won't get really hurt unless you a) are silly or b) have an accident - but accidents happen everywhere.

It's a great way to meet people and is, infact how I met most of my very best friends. There's nothing like bonding over saving a few peasants from murdering bandits, or mourning the death of a friend (strictly roleplay death, people, we're not hardcore!).

It occurs to me that I haven't explained myself very well, so I'll direct you here: www.frothrealms.co.uk, where you can see pictures and read aout the wonderful world of LRP.

In other news, my new website should be ready soon. The wonderful Lex Valentine is hard at work at it for me, and I can't wait to unveil it!!

Until Thursday.... try and behave yourselves.

Slainte!

So, yesterday was St Patrick's Day! What did everyone do?

Yesterday also happened to be my friend Cynthia's birthday, and the annual tradition seems to have evolved into piling into a corner of the Irish pub in the centre of Cardiff, drinking Guinness, and procuring free novelty hats from the barmen by offering them cake and sweets. This year the pub had printed a whole pile of shamrock-shaped transfers, which we proceeded to stick on each other's faces. I went to the bathroom and when I came back, J had been pounced upon by Cynthia's fiance and was getting his lightly stubbled cheek Irish'd up. He took it off as soon as we got home...

...Where we proceeded to watch the penultimate episode of Babylon 5; season 2. As a newbie to this series, I can confess I am now an addict. I'm in total suspense about what will happen next. Season finales are notoriously cliff-hanging, and I'm looking forward to it immensely.

B5 has been commended as a "novel for television" and it is. The plots and characters are as complex as any you might find in a good sci-fi read, and there are at least 2 sub-plots revolving around main characters at any time. The more the series goes on, the deeper involved you are, as you learn more about the people whose lives are played out on the space station, "all alone in the night."

What is your favourite series, former or current, and do you enjoy it when seasons end on huge cliffhangers?

Failure at the First Hurdle

What a terrible start. I promised you updates on Thursdays and Sundays and what was yesterday? Sunday. I hang my head in shame.

I would like to tell you that I spent all of yesterday huddled over my laptop, fingers typing furiously in a flurry of creativity. Well, that was some of yesterday. The rest was spent with my man, who we shall call J, because that is what his name begins with. He made bolognese (from scratch, no less) and we watched From Russia with Love. When I said I hadn't yet watched this film he gifted me with a look of horror, not unlike the look you might get if you grew another head.

I enjoyed it, very much, and I have to say, that as the Bond films have progressed in years, something has been lost with the debonairness (is that a word?) of the sixties and seventies. Sean Connery oozes suaveness with his deep accent and his trimly cut suit.

What I also noticed was the presentation of women. As the films hurtle into the latter part of the twentieth century, the women become bolder, brighter. Never that they were stupid, but there is a certain reliance on Bond to rescue them, to give them purpose in their life - for example, Tatiana turns into a quivering mound of... well, let's not go there, but she does seem quite helpless when Bond turns that trademark smile on her. Compare that to the motorcycle riding girls of Tomorrow Never Dies.

Anyway, it was an excellent film, made even better by the addition of a good red wine.

And now I have blathered on long enough - I won't bore you in addition to being late to blog!

Have a great week everyone, speak to you on Thursday.

Hello, World...

Welcome to my blog. I'll update Thursdays and Sundays, if I have anything interesting to say, and if I don't, well, you'll have to suffer through it anyway.

I'm Jasmine and I write sweet & sensual romance - stories that make you feel light, happy and relaxed, and maybe even a bit hot under the collar.

I'll probably be blogging about publisher stuff and promotional stuff as well as everyday stuff. Read what you like, skip what you don't, and if you're interested, check out my official piece of cyberspace here.

A bit about me. I live in Cardiff but I'm not Welsh. I eat too much Chinese food. I love baking. I have a bearded dragon who is (much to his disgust) on a diet. I adore summer and detest winter. Any questions?

Well, you've read this far. I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. See you Sunday!